By Mohamed Fajah Barrie, Freetown

Fifa are unhappy with the dressing rooms and the state of the pitch

World football's governing body Fifa has given Sierra Leone more time to improve the country's only stadium.

The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) says it hopes the venue will be ready for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers in June.

The arena was banned last month because of sub-standard dressing rooms and a poor playing surface.

Nigeria, South Africa and Equatorial Guinea await the Leone Stars in the qualifiers.

Fifa says it is satisfied the Sierra Leone government's plan and subsequent funding will ensure improvements in the stadium facilities in time.

I'm confident that we'll improve our facilities in time for Fifa's final inspection as we've had an assurance from the president of our country, Ernest Koroma SLFA secretary general Alimu Bah

Fifa will send a final inspection team to visit the stadium in Freetown in early May to check on the progress of the repairs.

The SLFA secretary general Alimu Bah reacted positively to this latest development.

"This is good news from Fifa and I'm delighted about it," Bah told BBC Sport.

"I'm confident that we'll improve our facilities in time for Fifa's final inspection as we've had an assurance from the president of our country, Ernest Koroma."

But Fifa still wants the SLFA to find a potential neutral venue for the home qualifiers, in case the work is not completed in time.

The SLFA had agreed to take the matches to Banjul, capital of The Gambia, if necessary.

But Fifa has said that stadium has not yet passed it's own final inspection, so another arena will have to be chosen.